Adventure of the Planet of the Apes
Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing of the Planet of the Apes. My respect for the wonderful author, Pierre Boulle, the book was so awesome that I keep reading it over and over again. So only a few people in here are mine. Hannah and Sarah belong to themselves. I don't own any Tolkien quotes either.
A/N: Yeah! This is the second chapter that I am finally typing up. Don't be afraid to hurt my feelings and tell me what you really think.
Jo March95- I am so glad that you liked this story and I will try to update as soon as I can.
Jay- I promise that I will not abandon this story. You will get to see a lot of Thade in this and the rest of the chapters. I am not sure if you will like the way that I am doing Thade because it is a little different. Lol. So here it is!
Chapter Two: Thade
As I watch the human girl sleep I feel very protective of her. She seems so innocent in the way that apes and humans lives. This girl is like no other human I have ever met. One moment the girl was shy, wanting to do her very best for everyone and then the next she was alive. I can see how her temper would make a lot of apes angry and almost kill her like they did, but she says it was not so. While she sleeps peacefulness covers her face and she is relaxed. Gently I brush a piece of hair back out of her eyes, but it falls back after I remove my finger. Finally when I was tire of watching the girl sleep I took out my diary and began to write out all the details of the day. By writing down my thoughts I have always been able to sort out my mind.
Today when I got up the sun was already shining so I knew that my father would be at the senate. This was good because I wanted to go out of the city for a walk without having to take on the servants with me like father usually makes me. I stopped writing and chewed thoughtfully on the end of my pencil then began to write again. Well, I went down stairs and I had the new human girl, Bon fix me some breakfast, for such a young human she is extremely talented in the art of cooking. But of course cooking in the kitchen of a senator would be easy compared to some of the homes that have humans now a days. It frustrates me to no end that we apes can enslave humans so readily. I mean… what if it were humans in charge? Would they treat us with the same distain that we treat them? This was something I had been thinking a lot about lately, but had never really had the courage to put it down in words on paper because it seemed to so… so… anti-ape. "Hum," I sighed to myself and continued to write. Without telling anyone where I was going, I know father would be furious if he knew that I had done so, I put on a light coat and headed out the back door without a care. Lately my best friend, Thade, has been acting rather strange around me. He kisses my hand and calls me by pet names that mother and father used to call each other when my brothers and I were not suppose to be able to hear. It gives me a tingling sensation in the pit of my stomach, but I like it. What ever does it mean? Thade is my best friend and even though he is not overly fond of humans he respects what I believe in. I can tell him absolutely everything; there is nothing about me that I don't think Thade knows.
Well, as I was going for my walk Thade passed me in the street, yet I almost did not want him to see me because he was sure to ask if my father knew that I was out alone, but then again I did want to see him because… I did not know why I wanted to see him all I knew was that I did. Throwing my pencil down didn't seem to be helping things much either. But, I did end up talking to him for just a moment, and he said something strange about coming over to talk to my father later. Anyways he was to busy to stay for long so he didn't get the chance to ask me whether or not I was suppose to be out without someone with me. I went on my way trying to look as innocent as I could without drawing much attention to myself. There are three ways to get out of Ape City, one was to use to big front gate that lead out into the jungle, but only merchants used it, two was to use the back gate into the land beyond, mostly on retired apes went that way to get away from the hectic life of the city, and the third way was to use the secret door in the wall that lead out into the forest. This was the way that I used because it would seem more likely for me, a senators daughter, to be seen going towards the senate building than out of the city. Because the tunnel was so near the Senate building I had to be very careful about not being out in the open where my father or one of his friends could possibly see me, so I stayed in the shadows and crept closer to the door and finally… Freedom! I was out of the city and on the other side of the walls with nothing to stop me from doing anything.
It was, as it usually is, much brighter outside of the city than it is on here. The air seems much more breathable and not quiet so closed the wide openness made my heart soar! I made my way into the forested area without looking over my shoulder. Trees swayed over head and a gentle breeze blew my hair into my face and swirled the leaves along the forest floor. Soon a giant tree loomed in front of me, its branches spread out giving it the appearance of an umbrella, this is my tree and I love to go there and just sit in its arms forever. The first time I ever went there was when my mother was taken from us about seven years ago.
Flashback
'Ari, come quickly!' Called her older brother, Galen, who raced up the stairs towards their parent's bedroom. Ari, the youngest and only female child of Senator Sandar and his wife Sari followed her brothers up the stairs wondering what the matter was. When they reached the upper level of the house all the apes were starting to become frightened, never had their father allowed them to come home early from school unless something was dreadfully wrong. Finally after what seemed like an eternity their father opened the door and beckoned his children to come in, Dr. Bourl and his young apprentice Kimba crowed around the bed trying to ease Sari's pain for the time. There was blood all over the bed, the sheets and the floor. Panic came over Ari as she saw her mother lying helpless on the bed surrounded by strange medical instruments, what had the doctor done to her mother! Just as she was about to run to her mother side her father caught her and held his precious child close to him so that she would not get in the way of the doctor who had just helped Sari give birth. The young ape had been born dead and its mother was not strong enough to live either, this was the reason that Sandar had sent for his child to come home so early. He was brought back into reality as Ari struggled to get away from him and go to her mother; both of her brothers, Nat and Galen were standing in the door way not sure what they should do.
'Sons, come over here,' Sandar drew his sons close to his side, this might be the last time that they were all together as a family, 'quickly, quickly! It will be all right, you will see. It will be all right in the end.' It was more for his own comfort that Sandar said these words. Galen buried his head in his father's senatorial robes to hide the tears that were coursing down his face, while Nat just stood by his father's side trying to be brave, but Ari wasn't sure what she should be doing. Why was she not allowed to see her momma and why was her brother crying? All these thoughts ran through her nine year old brain.
After a few minutes Dr. Bourl and Kimba started to gather things up. 'Senator Sandar, I have done all that I can for your wife. She is as comfortable as I can possibly make her at this time. I would suggest that you leave her to rest today and tomorrow.' As much as he wanted to tell the Senator that there was not much hope for his wife, he did not want to upset the children.
'Doctor, please, tell me… Will she-'the words stuck in his throat, '-will she live? Don't try to soften the blow it would be to hard.'
Bourl sighed, this was not going to be easy but it was all part of being a doctor. 'There is very little chance that she will live to see the mornings light. She has lost a lot of blood, in the best case scenario, she could possibly live through out the week, but chances of that are very slim. I would suggest that you and your children say goodbye for she passes on the realm of Semos. Kimba and I will be cleaned up shortly then we will leave you to yourselves.' With that Bourl began to pack up his medical things and directed Kimba to do the same. The young gorilla was very good at the medical practice and would one day make a great doctor, so Bourl had taken him under his wing to show him the ropes. Bringing him to what was suppose to be an easy birth sounded like a good idea, but when the mother miscarried things had gotten messy quickly now the good doctor did not have any hopes of Kimba ever wanting to practice medicine again. 'Come, Kimba, we will leave them alone to grieve in peace.' They left the Senator and his family alone with their beloved wife and mother.
'Momma!' Ari finally free of her father's arms ran to the bed where her mother was lying. 'No, momma, please don't leave me. I love you!' Tears streamed down Ari's face and hit her mother's pillow.
'Hush, Ari. Big apes don't cry now do they?' Her mother gently stroked her daughter head, trying to put away her own pain. 'Galen, come here and give me a hug. How was your day at school today?' Sandar could hear the stress in his wife's voice; she was being so brave, trying to act like everything was normal. 'Nat, you are getting to look so much like you father. I heard that you had a game yesterday against the neighboring team. Did you win?'
'Yes, mother. I only wish that you could have been there! We beat them by at least fifteen points because their defense wasn't strong enough. I hope that you feel better soon.' Nat, the oldest of Sandar and Sari's children was almost out of school and very involved in all the sports he could be, but he was also very compassionate when someone was hurt.
Ari sat by her mother watching as she listened to her brothers talk about school and everything that had been happening. Noticing her daughter's unusual silence Sari only half listen to what her sons had been doing while she had been unwell. 'Daughter, what interesting things have you been doing?'
'I made a new friend, momma. Her name is Anna.'
'That is a very unusual name for an ape, is it not?'
'Oh! She isn't an ape, momma; she is the new human girl that Thade's father bought for him.'
Sari's brow wrinkled, she did not approve of apes owning humans and treating them as slaves, it was not right in her opinion. 'Really, now did he?' She shot her husband a death glare. How could he allow their youngest to be around such repulsing things!? 'I am sure that you were very polite to her and treated her with all the respect that you do your other friends.'
'Why should she?' Galen spoke up, 'Anna is nothing but a stinkin' human. She doesn't deserve any respect.'
'Galen! I would have never-'
'Don't speak to your mother in that way, son.' Sandar did not agree with his wife's strong views on the slavery issue and preferred to ignore them.
'Go on, Ari, your brother did not mean to interrupt you,' Sari encouraged her daughter.
'I tried to be nice to her because I knew that you would like it and I wanna be just like you, momma… When I get big! Thade wasn't very nice to her because he said that his papa didn't care and the girl was suppose to do what he wanted her to. It made me sad and I told him to stop, but he wouldn't.'
'Yeah! It was great,' broke in Nat, 'then Ari to a swing at him and knocked him down. She sure does hit hard for a she-ape!'
'You didn't did you, Ari?'
'Yes, momma, I did. He made me so mad, but we are best friends again and he said he wouldn't boss her around like that again.'
Sandar was afraid that his children were wearing their mother out. 'Children, I don't want to tire your mother out so maybe we should let her rest for a little bit then come back a little later. Come, go down stairs.' Gently he shoed his children out and sat down on the side of the bed and took his wife's hand in his. 'Love… I don't want to lose you; you seemed so strong around the children.'
'Sandy, please- I cannot stand to be here and leave our other child alone in death. Don't make it harder for me to go.'
'Are you in pain?'
'Not so very much right now. Stay with me for a while. Please?'
'Forever my love.' Sandar laid down beside his wife on their bed. They both closed their eyes; while Sandar drifted into a peaceful sleep his wife's spirit left her body and floated away to the heavens never to return to her beloved family. Almost immediately after Sari had passed away Sandar was aware that something was not right, he gathered his wife's body up in his arms and cried because it felt like part of him had also died with her.
I shook myself from my reverie and looked down at the page I had been writing on, tear marks bubbled up the page and smeared some of the ink. Finally I pulled myself together and began to write again…
It had been such a hard time for our family, Nat had left to live with some of his friends in another city and Galen and I had been left to ourselves and the care of the servants because father was always busy. Now Galen is gone and married so I am the only one left at home, it was very hard for father to part with Galen because he was his only son left at home. I don't think that I shall ever leave, or want to leave father because I am sure that he would not do well without me. Even though we never talk it seems like having me around the house is one of the only things that keeps him going, besides the senate that is. Maybe I am wrong in thinking that, but I don't know… One day I will meet someone that will sweep me off my feet and I will want to marry him and have his children, but not right now. Secretly I have become a part of a Human's Right coalition, but I cannot tell my father or he would forbid me to attend their meetings. They are quiet interesting and have helped me to understand why my mother felt the way she did-
I looked up and stopped writing; I could hear footsteps echoing in the hall. Looking outside I could tell that an hour or more had passed while I was writing and remembering. Carefully I put away my writing things and listened to see if I could tell who was coming. Thade. My heart leapt in my chest at the thought of seeing my best friend, but why? More importantly, what would he think of the human I had brought home?
My door was slowly pushed open, and then I could see that my guess had been correct, it was Thade. As he stood in the door with the light silhouetting him I could not help but think to myself how handsome he looked. Quickly I punished myself for thinking such thoughts about my best friend; because I knew that he could not possibly think of me in that way. Without giving me time to think Thade was on the bed beside me, he looked excited for some reason. Gently he drew me to him and kissed my forehead, it was nothing but a friendly gesture I was sure because he had been doing that since I was a child. I forced myself to smile at him before taking a deep breath and telling him about the girl.
"Thade, I need to tell you something."
"What?" He almost looked panic stricken. "What is it that you need to tell me, Ari?"
"It is nothing bad, I just don't want you to become upset," I paused, Thade nodded his head for me to go on, "Well, I-I um… you see…"
"Ari, spit it out and tell me for Semos sake!"
My lips curled into a smile, then back into a frown. "Well, what I want to tell you was… ifoundahumangirlandibroughtherhomewithme." That was over with, now here comes the reaction…internally I cringed not wanting Thade to be mad at me. "Please, please don't be angry. I brought her home because I didn't want her to get killed or hurt or anything like that."
A variety of emotions crossed over Thade's face. Fear crept into my heart as he sat staring at me not saying a word. "Where is she?" It was so quiet that I had to strain to hear what he had said.
"Over there," my long finger directed his gaze to where the girl was sleeping. Because Thade's face was turned away from me, I could not tell whether he was angry, upset or displeased.
"She's different, Ari, no human here has ever dressed like that. Just look at her clothes, they were made by a machine, as are ours. But they were not made for an ape either. What are those covering her feet?" I cocked my head sideways and looked at her feet. There was some sort of cloth and leather type thing covering them tied with a cord, on the bottom was some strange material. Thade was right, the girl was wearing strange clothes for a human. I had not had the opportunity to take a really good look at her since I had half drug, half carried her home. She had chin length hair that was dark brown, it was nicely parted down the middle and very clean for a human. She was taller than a chimpanzee or an orangutan, but she was shorter than a gorilla. For a human I suppose she would have been thought to be pretty or at least attractive. "It is not safe for you to have her in your room, Ari."
"But, Thade, she isn't like the other humans, you said so yourself. When the vet came she made a comment about not wanting to be a slave." It seemed like Thade wasn't really interested in what I was saying so I hurried. "Please, try to understand, look at the way she sleeps. Most humans curl up, like they are trying to shield themselves from a blow, but she… she sleeps stretched out," I paused for effect, "She sleeps like an ape."
Thade cupped my face in his hands and looked into my eyes, "Ari, it is not the girl I am worried about, it is your safety. You are my bestest friend and I do not know what I would do if I ever lost you." Emotion clouded Thade's eyes as his throat clogged. "I don't think that I could go on living if you were taken from me." I could sense the depth of meaning in Thade's words, and I never wanted this moment to end. A noise from the across the room broke the serine moment between Thade and I. The girl was sitting up on the make-shift pallet, a wild look gleamed from her eyes, like when you corner a wild animal.
"Did you have a good rest?" My voiced sounded strained to my ears. Next to me I felt Thade tense, it was not his fault that his father had raised him to hate humans so much. Her eyes shifted from me to Thade then rested back on me again. "Yes, thank you. I apologize if I interrupted anything important." It surprised me that while she was talking she made a point of making direct eye contact with me, yet most humans would hardly dare talk to an ape let alone look on in the eye.
My contemplation was soon broken when Thade started asking her question. "Do you have a name, or shall we just call you 'that human girl'?" The tone Thade was using was very analytical and condescending.
"Most people have a name, why shouldn't I?" It was easy to hear the challenge in her voice, "But.." she continued, "I shall tell you my name… if you really want to know." I watched as she sat there waiting for our response.
"Well," I hesitated, "it would be easier for us, and for you if we knew your name."
Her eyes lowered in submission because she probably realized she has spoken out of place. "Me llamo es Taylor. ¿Cómo te llamas?" There was a smirk of satisfaction on her face when she replied to use in that strange language. "I said, 'My name is Taylor, what is yours?'" It is very unusual for a human to be interested in apes, but she genuinely seemed intrigued.
